Material guiding means for woodworking machines



MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS FOR WOODWORKING MACHINES Filed Oct. 26. 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec, 1, 1931. K. E. CROOKS r 1,833,934

MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS FOR WOODWORKING MACHINES Filed 001;, as 192.? 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 r flu 0 6.

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Dec. 1, 1931. K. E. cRooKs MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS FOR WOODWORKING MACHINES Filed Oct.. 26, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 gwuentoo g /6%w0/r s Dec. 1,1931. CROOKS 1,833,934

MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS FOR WOODWORKING MACHINES Filed Oct. 26. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Dec. 1 1931 K. E. CROOKS MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS FOR *OODWORKING MACHINES Filed Oct. -26, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 6'0 W]? g I w Y Y Q i W Q; J4

Patented Dec. 1, 1931 KENNETH n. CROOKS, or ILLIAMsPOR'r; rENnsYnvAN IA; A

MATERIAL GUIDING -MEANS FOR woonwom:inter ma mas i ,Applieation filed October 26, 1927. Serial No. 228,842.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in material guiding means for wood working machines and is es- 7 pecially adapted to be used in connection with the Yates disc head matcher; the object being to provide means for positively guiding the strip of material past the rotating cutting headso that the difficulties now existing with machines of this character will be eliminated. Another object of my invention is'to pro vide a guide which has a'positive engagement with the material so that the strip in passing the gap of the cutter head'is' positively guidi t ed and heldagainst' the adjustableguidejof '15 the machine whereby the chipping off of the ends of the strips are elimiriatedi' Another object of my invention is to provide aguide which is preferably in the form ofaknifewhich is adapted'to'embed itself; inthe material being operated'on so that the strip i'spositively engaged and held at'the I proper distance from the rotating cutting head.

Another and further object of the'invention is to provide one form of guide which is yieldably-held into engagement with the material so that it can move up and down to accommodate itself to the irregularities of the material being operated on.

provide a guide Which not only guides the material and prevents lateral movement thereof, but also holds the material down on the bed of the. machine soas to prevent the ends from moving upwardly when they are in engagement with the cutters of the head.

A still further obj'ecto'fthe invention isto provide a guide'which is so constructed that it can be' attachedto the ordinary hood of the Yates matcher so that the weight of the" hood will apply the proper pressure on the knife in order to hold it into engagement with the material being operated on and to exert V pressure on the material in order to hold the end of the material'as it comes into engagementwith the knives of the cutter firmly against the bed and adjustable guide of the" machine. a a

Another object of my'lnvention is to pro vide guiding means for the material being A still further object of the invention is to operated 'on in a wood working machine which is in the formof a' kn'ife so disposed I I e rotarycutterthat it will em f bed itself infthe material in its passage therethrough by pressure exerted directly by the knife or by pressure exerted on the' material in respect to th in order to provide positive'means for"g'uid J i material asit passes thec'utterQ k Other and further objects and advantages a of the invention will be; hereinafter set 'forth a and the novelfeatures thereofdefine d bythe ing the stripof appended claims.

In the drawings Figure li s a a Yates A7 disc headmatchershowing the application of pressure bar and guide;

= Figure 2 1s a section showing the hood oar guides 1n raised position;

" Figure 3 is a passes the cutting head;

Figure 4 is a detailend my improv'ed construction of detail side elevation detail View view hood and a cutting knife showing Jtherelativej position ofthe knife inrespect to the material being operated a Figure 5 is a knife detached;

Figure 6 is a corner of the set screw forl on v i v i detail perspectivev ew of the detail perspective view of one r ihsfi ssi le a showingthefknife I 7 1n ts engagement with one of thefstrips-"as t top planlvie w 'of 6'5 hood showing the adjustable imiting the downward move ment of the hoodwhichalsocontrolslthe depth of the cut made by the knife for ing the strip;

Figure 7 is adetail enlarged section through a portion of the knife showingthe same in engagement wi the guide;

th the striparrang'ed between Figure 8 is a detail vertical seet-ionfshowg ing a modified form of knife; in which the holder is bifurcated to receivefthe cutting blade; the holder forming, a pressure barlfor exerting pressure-on the top. of thestrip' in a order to hold ter;

' Flgure 9 1s a it down as it passes thecut-i vdetail view showing the knife with its beveled'cutting edge arranged in opposite positi ferred form on to that shown the pre:

. Figure is a detail vertical section of a slightly modified" form of knife; 7

Figure 11 isa detail section of still'another ;1nodified form of knifev and pressure bar;

" Figure '12 V is a detail vertical section through still another form of knife;

Figure 13 is a detail top planview showing the'preferred manner of mounting the knife so that the line contact of the knife is slight ly diagonal to the movement of the strip in order tolhave the tendencyto force it against the adjustablev guiding'means; I 1

Figure 14: is a'de'tail perspective viewof a strip showing the groove formed by the knife for guiding the same and the strip after it 7' passes through the tongue forming mechanism of-the machine so that the groove iscut away. as the tongue isforined on the strip;

Figurelb is a side elevationof: a portion of a wood working machine showing'the hood and. upper guides 'raisedfand a knife guide disposed on thejbed thereof; v ,Figure'l6 is a topplan view; of the same;

7 therethrough and ri ureiu isadetail viewshowing the knife in the under side of a strip' nits. passage inserted: in the bed and thefs arn e einbedded Figure 18 is a detail section thrrnigh.ain0dified forniof knife and 'pres'surebarin which $9 the cutti'ng edge isformedon an arc of a circle. j f i In the embod ment of, myinvention as herein'shown I have illustrated a portion of r 'the'Yates disc matchenl which machine'operg a strip of flooring, one face/0f the strip being meson a: stripof material so as to produce finished by a rotating cutting head mounted on a horizontal axis and provided with knlveswhichengage the strip on the upstroke the strip being operated on whereby the knives only cut on the upward movement of the head. V In the drawings 1 indicates the bed of the machine which is, provided with yieldable guides} and 3v between which is arranged a cutter head carried bya shaft 5 mounted in a suitable bearing 6. Arranged to one side of the bed are drivenfeedIrollers'Z and 8. Movably mounted on theotherside of the bed '1' is; a lnovableltable 9 carryin feed'rollers 10 and 1 1 andprovidedwith a' guide 12 against which thestrip of material travels in passing the rotating :cutting head, said table being adjustably inounted by means of a lever 13 in the usualmanner;

-The end of the shaft 5-is engaged thrust bearing 14; carriedby arm' 15 mountedon a shaft 16.

above construction is only described in agcneral way in order to make the operati onof'my improvedcons truction of'guide clear,jand 1s 1naccordance with the ordinary 'hood o'n the naterialxwhen operating on cer ofthe'head, thehe ad being arranged in the, V usualmann'er, so that the cutting face ofthe- "head is not perfectly parallel with the face of Yates A 7 disc "head matcherQwell known in the art.

Pivotally mounted on the shaft 16 is a hood 17 adapted to enclose the-rotary cutting head and to which is preferably connected the usus al air conveyor for conveying the chips and dust away from the cutter, thisconstruction being omitted so that the position of the knives and guidecanbe more clearly shown. This hood carries an a'dJustable set screw 18 for-limiting the downward movement of the hood and said set screw is adapted to en gage a fixed-portionbf the body of the ma chine. By pivotallymounting the hoodas described, it can be swung back into the position as shown in Figure2 in order to allow the cutter to be reached in order to remove the jams caused by the flexingand breaking of the strips in passing through the machine. The weight of the hood holds the same down andallows it to move up and down' 'as the strip; passes through the machine as will be later described. g 1,; Y i .7

Inorder to increase the pressure ofithe;

tain' grades of material, the hood isf pro vided with abiifurqate'd lug-19 baw n hm is adaptedito pass pivoted rod 20 carrying a spring pressed member-21, forapplying the y invention I have proper tensiontothe hood. Y;

In the embodimentof v shown the rear portion'cf the, general construction of Yates hood cut away to receive a bearing 22 of a bifurcated arm .28 in which is mounted aiweighted member 24- by a pair.

of bolts 25 whereby when onefof the bolts in 'jured. and theparticular construction of guide is substantially the same as the other form of guide which will hereinafter be later described. v, i

, The formof consists of a holder 27 which is adaptedto be bolted within the hood as shown inFigures Zand 3w bolts 28 so-thatit can be adjusted up and dow n in respect'to the usual-gauge carried by thehood as shown in, Figure 2;

This holder .plate'is preferably provided with a rabbetededge in which is bolted the gui d ing knife 29 by bolts 30, theknife -beingpref erably formed with a beveled cutting edgeas shown in Figure 3 whichis adapted to engage the top of-the strip and-to embed. itself thereguide asshown in Figure 5 in when the hoodis in the position shown j "inFigure 1 so that a positive guide is formed for the free end of the strip as it passesthe cutter and at the pointwhere thercut is beingniade'.

The knife guide:29 is formedwith a: toe

portion29 "and a heel portion 29 in order to provide a bevel portion which is adapted to the cutting edge of the guide is suflicient to hold the strips on the bed and against the adjustable guide without any additional pressure exerting means. i

In orderto preventanydanger of the knives sothat it will be impossible forthe knives to be brought into engagement with the cutters of the head. a r I r a In order to form additional means-for limitingthe knife 29 I provide the same'with an adjustable set screw:32 which issadapted to engage a' fixed portion of the bed ofthe machine to limit the lateral movement of the knife in respect to the cutter. a a a a In setting the knives and especially the knife 29 which is arranged opposite theworle.

ing cutters of the head, I preferably have the cutting edge of the knife arranged slightly out of a horizontal plane so that the point of the knife is in'a plane below the rear edge of the knife whereby as clearly shown'in Figure 3, the knife when operatingon a good grade of stock, only embeds itself half of its lengthin'the material-being operated on.

I also preferably arrange this knife as shown in Figure 13 diagonally to the movement of the strip or in otherwords, the knife is not parallel with the guide 12 so that as the knife embeds itself in the upper edge of the strip being operated on, it has the tendency to force the strip and positively hold it against the uide 12.

While I have shown a knife preferably mounted in this manner, I am, of course, aware that it can be mounted in'various other ways and the same result wi ll be accomplished so long as the knife travels in a groove either formed by the knifeor a previous groove formed by a cutter. This is to distinguish my invention from the ordinary pressure bar which frictionally engages the top of the strip in an attempt to eliminate the chipping off of the ends of the strips by the cutters as they pass therethrough. I 7

Prior to my invention the hood ofa Yates disc matche r carried what was known in the art as ahold down, which frictiollally engaged the top of the strip beingoperatedon and was supposed to prevent the strip from bein drawn laterally by the cutters r the head away from the adjustable. guide. I

While Ihave shown means for positively forming a groove in the strip being operated,

on by the guiding meansfitself, I do not wish to limit myself to'the use of acutting guideas I am aware that a groovecould be madein the strip previous to it being operated on by thehead'and by having a guide member fitting in the groove thus formed, lateral movement of the strip will be prevented. q In the construction shown in Figure 8;; 40 indicates the hoodflll' a holderhaving a bi-, furcated lower portion inwhich is adjustably secured a knife 42 which extendsidownward ly below the edge of the holder so that'after the knifehas embedded itself within the edge ofithe strip; theholder exerts pressure hold it. I p

on the top of the strip in order to down on thebed of the machine.

Inthe modification shown in Figure-9, the knife 43 has its beveled edge arranged on the gpposite side of that shown in the preferred form. r i

vIn the modification shown in Figure 1O I have illustrateda knife 44 having a v shap ed cutti 11g edge.

In the modification shown :in Figure 1 1 .I I

have a pair knife holders andpressure bars 45 and 46, each havingza knife 45 and 46f extending below the lower edgethereof so that the material is engaged by. two cut ting edgesand two pressure bars inorderito" 7 hold it properly'asiti'passes the cutter]; 7

In the modification shown 1n F1gure112, I

illustrate 1 a cutter 47' having two cutting edges 48 and 49. a

In order to provide means for holding the strip firmly-on the bedso as to preventiver e 1 tical andlateral movement of the strip; as it" passes the cutter, it isessential that said means be yielding in order to allowsaid means to adjustitself to the irregularities of the strip bein operated on and'I have found in practice that byattaching apressure bar with a knife edge to the hood ofrtherordinary Yates matcherin placeof the ordinary'hold down now in use, thatI am able to eliminate tion on'the'movingstrip to hold itagainst the set guideon the opposite side of the guide way from thecutter, especially in; view [of the fact that thestrips are not-uniform as some of the strips turn laterally and others verticallyi'a't 'thegends and the" strips that turn laterally are drawn into the cutter so that the'chipping offof the face ofthe. strip a is very pronounced; and in manufactu'ring iso 12o used as it is impossible toexert enough fricr flooring the portion chipped oif has to be cut from-thefinished strip.

l While-in the drawing I have sl'iofwnfa com; Vbined pressure bar and guide especially adapted to beusedon a .L weslniachine "coir strlucted for 'manufacturi'ng "tongue and 7 groovelflooring of a V-shapedformation,

that the strip is positiiie'ly held againstthe adjustable guide so that it can not be drawn into thecutters as they rotate with the head, In the embodiment of my invention as shown in Figures 15,16 and 17, indicates vguide 53. l

the bed ofthe :machinewhich is prcvided with the usual feed'rollers and a rotary cutting head 51. "I'heinachine is provided with the ,usual shood 5 2 to' which is connected a The hood is mounted to swing on a shaft 54 on whlch is mounted an arm 55 carrying a guide 56, thisbonstruetion being substantial'ly'rthe same as previously described. j

,The bottom ofthe-bed opposite thegap formed by the cutting head'is provided with aknife-guide 57' which isadapted to engage thebottom of the strip inits passage therethrough as shown in F igure'17 so as to guide I and hold the strip against the adjustable guide. 58. I

While I have shown this I knife guide used in connection with the upper guides, it is, of-"course, understood that the upper knife guides could be removed anda suitable holddown or pressure bar placed on the pivoted hood so that the pressure of the hood against the top 'of theinaterial'would force it into engagement with the guide 57 so that this guide would cut or embed itself into the lower "edge 'of the strip in its passage therethrough inorder to prevent it from moving laterally andto hold'it against the adjustable guide 58. In Figures 15, 16 and 17 I have illustrated the guide 57 when used in connection with a, Yates disc head matcher, but, it is,'of course, understood that thisguidecan be used in connection with various other forms of wood working machines and that when disposed on the'bed of the machine and used inconnection I with a pressure barto hold fthe'material down, the material will'be forced against the knife'so that theknife will embed itself in the material and' prevent the ma- 7, terialfrom moving laterally.

J While I have shown this guide'knife ar- 7 ranged in acertain position on the bed of the machine, it is, offlc'ourse, understood that it can either be formed 'integral or as a separate element and securedinposition within a suitable holder arranged within the bed :so that it can be: removed and sharpened and thereforeiIdo not wish to limit myself to any particular manner 'ofwmountingfthis knife guide as I am aware that itcan behiounted in various ways without departing from the spirit of'my invention. I I am also aware that'this knife guide can be used inconnection with upper knife guides, Y 7

as clearly shown so that not only the lower edge of the strip will be held against lateralmovement, but the upper edge of the strip will also be held 'against lateral movement,

so that the strip in its passagetherethrough cannot be drawn into the butter so as to chip the-end thereof in its passage therethrough.

' In the modification shown in Figure 18, I

show a knife 60 which hasits cutting end a formed on an arc ofa circle soas to'produce a combined pressure bar and knife. I

In'the operationofra machine having a yielding guide, a strip of'floorin'g is fed between the feed rollers 7 ,8, 1'0 andfll and be- 1 I tween the yieldable guides 3 and the adjust- 'ableguide 12 which is predeterminedly'set so thata predetermined cut will bemade on one-face of the strip -as itpasses the vcutter.

As the stri reaches'the gap formed by the g;

cutter,it ispositi'vely engaged by the cutting guide, the knife embeddingitself within the same against the set guide. Asthis guide is carried by the hood, it is held intoengagementwith the edge of the strip by the weight of thehood' and if necessary, additional presedge-' of the strip and positively holding the sure can be applied through the mediuinrof thespring pressed member 21; carried by the rod 20, "In order to prevent the'en'd of'the strip-from engaging the other half of the cutter, the guide" 262is 'employedand by' having the same carried by a support pivotally mounted on a shaft-which support is weightg 7 ed, it is als oyieldably held into engagement withthe strip so that this guide enters the groove previously cut by theguide 29 and continues to guide the strip until it has passed the cutter., By having the same mounted in this particular inanneras shown and described, bylooseningone of the bolts the knlfe is free to swing on theother' bolt as a pivotw-hich allows'the knife to be swung upwardly past the cutter so that a piece of material which has jammed in'the machine's .can'be removed. Thisis true inrespectto knlfe 29 and is of'a'great advantage when,

used inconnection with a 'Yates matcherias it is essential that these knives be movably mounted so that they can be swung'out of the way in order to remove strips which'have jammedinthe machine. I i

a In the operation of a fixed guide used in connection with a pressure bar, as the material is 'fed through the machine, it'is forced into engagement withlthe fixed knife guide so that the knife embeds itself in the under side of the material in-order to positively engage thesaineso as to prevent lateralmovement of the'material as it passes the rotary cutter.

While I have shown and described theusej .Well as the movable guide could be arranged a diagonal to the path of theinaterial in its passage therethrough so that these guides which positively engage the material by embedding themselves'therein have a wedging action on the material to force it against the wall of the guide Ways of the machine.

Nhile in the specification I have shown and described my improved construction of guiding means used in connection with a Yates matcher, I am, of course, aware that the same can be used in connection with any form'of wood working machine where it is necessary to gulde the material being operated on and therefore I do not wish to limit myself to the use of my improved construction of guiding means to any particular construction of wood working machine.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a guidefor a wood Working machine which positively engages the strip so as to preven lateral movement thereof and while I have shown certain de-' tails of construction, I am aware that various changes can be made without departing from i the spirit of my invention as clearly defined in the claims, as my invention consists broadly in providing means for positively engaging the strip to prevent lateral movement thereof in its passage by the cutting head. iVhat I claim is 1. In a machine of the kind described, the con'ibination with a guide way for gulding a strip of material in its passage lengthwise thcretnrough, of a rotary cuttlng head adapted to operate on one side of sald stri 1n 1ts pas-sage therethrough, and knife gui es pivotally mounted above said guide way and to each side of the argis of said cutter for positively guiding the strip of material being operated on by said cutter.

2. In a machine of the kind described, the

combination with a guide Way for guiding a strip of material in 1ts passage therethrough, said guide way having a gap formed in'one wail thereof, of a rotary cutter mounted on a hor zontally disposed shaft adapted to oper-' ate in the gap of said guide way, a member extending outwardly from the cutting face of said cutter surrounding said shaft and a yieldable guide mountedto engage the up-'' per edge of said material for positively guiding the material past said cutter, said member forming a stop for saidguide,

3. a machine of the kind described, the I combination with a guide way for guiding a strip ofmaterial lengthwise in its passage 1 therethrough, a rotary cutter operating on one-face of the strip in its passage through said guide Way, a movable holder mounted in advance and to the rear of said cutter and guide blades carried by said holders for en-- gaging the material in its passage therethrough for preventing vertical and lateral,

movement of the material.

4. In a machine of the kind described,,the

combination with a guide way for guiding a strip of material in its passagetherethrough, a rotary cutter operating'ononeface of the strip in its passage therethrough, a pivoted hood for said cutter, an adjustableholder carried by said hood and a cutting blade carried by said holder for engaging and guiding through.

5. In a machine of the kind described, thecombination with a gulde Way for guidlng a strip of material in its passage therethrough,

said guide way having a gap, a rotary cut-x a strip of material in its passage thereting head arranged to one sideof said guide Way having a portion thereof working in said gap, a movably mounted hood arranged over said cutting head,adjustable means for limiting the downward movement of said hood, 7

a holder adjustably mounted on said hood and a knif-e carried bysaid holder adapted to engage the upper edge of the strip of m'ateria]. in its passage'therethrough for positively guiding said strip past the'face of said cutting disc.

'In testimony whereof I signature.

, KENNETH E." oRooKs.

hereunto affix my I 

